Eagle Scout recovering after he was injured in Brussels attack

Mason Wells, an Eagle Scout from Utah, was injured in Tuesday’s deadly bombings in Brussels.

Wells, who became an Eagle Scout as a member of Team 1190 of the Utah National Parks Council, was in Belgium serving as a Mormon missionary when the attack took place.

I reached out to the Wells family today at their Sandy, Utah, home. The parents were rushing to get to the airport to fly to Paris and then on to Brussels, so they weren’t able to speak.

But Chris Lambson, a family friend and Wells’ Young Men leader for the LDS church, told me the Eagle Scout is recovering nicely.

“He’s doing really well,” Lambson said. “They operated on the Achilles tendon yesterday, and he has another surgery tomorrow.”

In addition to the ruptured Achilles, Wells suffered second- and third-degree burns on the right side of his head and the palm of his hand. Given the teenager’s proximity to the blast, Lambson said, he was lucky.

“I don’t mean to minimize it, but they’re not that bad,” Lambson said of Wells’ injuries. “They are bad, but they could’ve been far worse. We feel extremely fortunate.”

Lambson’s voice caught with emotion when he talked about the character of this injured Eagle Scout.

“In 20 years of working with the Young Men’s organization, Mason’s one of the finest young men I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “He’s a great leader and a great example to other young men in the organization.”

Wells’ parents are heading to Brussels to be with their son, and Lambson wanted to make sure I mentioned the role Congressman Jason Chaffetz played in making that possible. Understandably, it’s not easy to travel to Brussels right now.

“[Chaffetz] went the extra mile to get them there,” Lambson said.

The family intends to bring Wells back to the U.S., Lambson said, but he told me the teenager has been well cared-for by doctors in Belgium.

“The Brussels medical system is great,” Lambson said. “We think he’s receiving the best of care, but it’d be better to have him local.”

What you can do

Knowing that the Scouting movement is like one big family, I asked Lambson how people could send their condolences and get-well wishes to Wells.

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Bryan on Scouting is the official blog of Scouting magazine, a Boy Scouts of America publication. Scouting magazine is published five times a year and is received by 1 million registered adult volunteers.